Institutional policing work in a constellation of labels and spaces of place: video game development management insights

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore (a) the dynamics of place and space in an institutional setting and (b) institutional work done in different spaces of the same place. Design/methodology/approach Traditional ethnographic methods (participant-observation, interviews and artefacts) were used over the course of 12 months of fieldwork in a multi-organizational video game development space. Findings The paper presents two main findings. First, the authors show how the place was a dynamic rainbow constellation and manifested as different spaces over time and for different actors. The authors describe the spaces based on existing literature (accelerator, experimental, incubator or coworking space) or inductively (atrium and hybrid). Second, the authors show how institutional work changed depending on the spatial conceptions of the institutional place. In particular, the authors show dynamic rainbow constellation of fluid spaces raises different forms of institutional policing work (self, backroom, spectacle, tangential and preventative) and the conditions under which institutional policing work is subtly fluid and takes form, but also changes. Originality/value Significant contributions are made to understanding how actors work at forming a rainbow constellation ring of fluid labels and spaces of a place. This paper explicates and amplifies the forms of institutional policing work, providing a novel case example of that social interaction.